Epidemic
by Bein'Berry
Summary: When a mysterious illness sweeps the Earth, some of the strongest Nations are left stranded in the disease-ridden outside... and it seems it isn't a mistake.  Gosh, I kinda hate summaries. 5 OCs and a buncha Nations. Fun, no? Rated T for violence later.
1. The First Sign

**EDIT: (January 1, 2012)  
>I kinda hate this first chapter. O-o I don't know why. But, compared to the others, I don't like it as much. Mebbe 'cos there's only two characters in it. If I don't count Prus in the chatroom. If you don't really like it, PLEASE POWER THROUGH and read the second chapter, at least. I promise, it's probably a lot better.<strong>

**(Originally, this was posted on Quiz.**

**Which is why that edit was made impossibly on Jan 1, even though this was uploaded on Fan on the… what is today, the 19****th**** of Feb? EITHER way.)  
><strong>

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><p><strong> <em>ImAwesome has<em>**_** entered the chatroom.  
><strong>_** ImAwesome: FFFFFFFF theres nobody here :/  
><strong>_**BURGERBOYHAHAHA has entered the chatroom.  
><strong>_**ImAwesome: burgerboyhahaha?  
>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: ya dude itz me! :'D the HERO u now?<br>ImAwesome: o. you were HAMBURGERHEROUFUFU last time so i couldnt tell xD  
>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: hey prus can u tell me sometin?<strong>

**ImAwesome: what iz it?  
>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: how long do comas last?<br>ImAwesome: o_o  
>ImAwesome: WHAT DID YOU DO?<br>BURGBERBOYHAHAHA: wut?  
>ImAwesome: who did you put in a coma?<br>BURBGERBOYHAHAHA: in a coma? who?  
>ImAwesome: ...what?<br>BURBGERBOYHAHAHA: u now dudea coma... u now ,**

** ImAwesome: A comma?**  
><strong>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: ya! how long do girls have them?<strong>  
><strong>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: ?<strong>  
><strong> ImAwesome: ...you mean a period?<strong>  
><strong>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: ...o that.<strong>  
><strong>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: how long dos it last?<strong>  
><strong> ImAwesome: i dont know im a dude. unawesome al. o_o<strong>  
><strong> ImAwesome: ...why are you asking?<strong>  
><strong>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: i think bery is on it cuz she is bein no fun :**  
><strong> ImAwesome: shes never any fun. she iznt awesome xD<strong>  
><strong>BURGERBOYHAHAHA: but i men iiiiiiit shes bein no fuuuuuun and now i have no sidekiiiiick<strong>  
><strong> ImAwesome: O_o sorry dude. cant help<strong>  
><em><strong> has left the chatroom.<br>**_**BURGERBOYHAHAHA: ...aw  
><strong>_**BURGERBOYHAHAHA has left the chatroom.  
><strong>_

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><p>That had been a week ago. America sat at the kitchen table, half of a french fry hanging out of his mouth, drumming his fingers on the smooth wooden surface.<br>Boring.  
>Berry <em>had<em> been acting weird. And- he had looked it up- periods only lasted a week. She was _still_being boring and weird. It made absolutely no sense. Sidekicks weren't allowed to have lives, only the heroes could have cool subplotstorythings! America glanced up as he heard footsteps from the hall, and Berry walked into the kitchen.

* * *

><p>Berry dropped her bag on the counter, pulling out a drawer and shuffling through it for car keys. Her head hurt- heck, her entire freaking <em>body<em> hurt like she'd been hit by a freaking _truck_. "Nufu~ what're you doing?" America said from the kitchen table behind her. "Lookin' for the car keys," she muttered impatiently, sliding stickynote pads, pens and old gum wrappers out of the way.  
>A slight jingling sound made her turn around; America was holding the keys. She launched herself the few feet between them, only managing to grasp air as he yanked the keys out of her reach. She narrowed her eyes, stretching her arm further. "Al, gimme the frickin' keys," she hissed, migrane pulsing, making her want to scream, run down into the basement, and never come out of the cool, quiet dark. America only grinned wider. "No way! You gotta take me with you, I'm bored- and besides, you can't drive anyway!" He pushed her back and stood up, stretching. "No way am I taking you with me, and I can too drive!" Berry mumbled weakly, knowing full and well there was no use arguing with him. Naturally, he continued on. "-and we'll also need to stop by, like, In-'N-Out Burger, or McDonald's- yeah, McDonald's, they're <em>way<em> better than In-'N-Out- and Nathan said we're almost out of ketchup, so we should stop by the store and get that too, whenever we're done with whatever. ...What _are_ we doing, anyways?"  
>Berry rubbed her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut- like it did any help. "Apple-picking. We're going apple-picking."<p>

* * *

><p>The car ride was strangely quiet. Often times, Berry would sing along to the radio, or shout completely unheroic things like, "Al- wait- AL, THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD-" or, "WAIT, WAIT, THIS ISN'T A HIGHWAY, AND EVEN ON A HIGHWAY YOU CAN'T GO 104 MILES PER-" and boring things like that.<p>

But today… silence.

Well, silence as long as you didn't count America filling up the car with the sounds of him eating and asking questions between eating. Berry had scooted as far to the right as she could, pressing herself against the car door and staring out the window sullenly. America, however, did not seem to notice this, and just kept on. "So- like, it's the start of December, so- how are we gonna- y'know, find apple trees that aren't- OH, WHOA, CHECK OUT THAT LISCENSE PLATE! IF THE '8' WAS A 'U', THEN IT WOULD BE, LIKE, SOME EPIC, TRICKED-OUT SPELLING OF BURGER! B-U-R-G-3-R!"

Which was the end of _that _conversation.

* * *

><p>Berry was still in pain.<p>

As a matter of fact, America's ridiculous, spontaneous driving was only making her feel worse, her bursting headache- which pounded which every swerve of the car- now accompanied by short waves of pain swamped her entire body, as well as an overwhelmingly nauseous feeling in her stomach. Of course, America wouldn't know that. He didn't care enough to creep into the window of her mind unless he could get something out of it- an embarrassing secret, blackmail opportunities… things like that.*

The last straw went when America swerved all the way across the highway in order to cut off a moving van he was absolutely convinced the driver of which was after the still overflowing bag of hamburgers sitting between the passenger and driver seats.

It was as though something had snapped.

Berry lunged across the car, dully aware of what she was doing behind the pain, and brought her hand once- twice- across the face of what you could say was her older brother, screaming, "_WHY CAN'T YOU JUST SHUT UP AND DRIVE THIS DAMN CAR, YOU IDIOT?"_

America shouted in surprise, bringing his arms up to further protect his face- but Berry had returned to the corner of the seat, her face turned away.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the destination, America seemed to finally understand how they were picking apples in the beginning of December- the entire building was an enormous electronic, window-covered greenhouse, where they carefully controlled every element to ensure the correct growth of their plants.<p>

Berry led them in without a word. They followed several bleak, white hallways, then turned into something like an antechamber. Berry dug around in her pockets, producing a sort of ID and sliding it through a scanner on the wall. _Nation's unlimited access_, she thought humorlessly, then stepped into the next room.

A warm field, dotted with trees, stood before them. Berry walked as though she had done this countless times and couldn't care less- (It was really just the fact that she couldn't care less because of the dizzy spells now accompanying her nausea and migrane)- and climbed up a ladder. A basket was perched on the top, and she started to pick apples.

America, once over the general "Wow" of the place, entertained himself by kicking bruised apples around on the ground, then picking them up and throwing them at trees, where they would often sort of explode against the bark. Then, of course, he'd laugh, as though he had just defeated some great villain, and not a plant.

* * *

><p>At some point, Berry grew tired of listening to the <em>thunks<em> and _splats_ being made by the apples- or, more accurately, she grew tired of the stabbing pain they were giving her head. She twisted around on the ladder until she could see America and shouted, "America, what the heck are you doing?" She quickly closed her eyes, another wave of dizzy nausea sweeping over her. Talking was bad- shouting was worse.

When she opened them again, she saw that America was looking at her, grinning, as though he _didn't_ still have a huge red mark on each cheek where she was slapped him. He called up, "Isn't it _obvious_? I'm _heroing_." Berry sighed. "And what is that?"

America snorted- or sighed, or something in between. "Well, _duh_. It's the act of being a _hero_ and saving stuff." Berry rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah? And what are you saving?"

Silence told her everything. "Knew it," she muttered snidely. "Honestly, you're not much of a hero at all."

There it was again-

It had been there when she'd practically attacked America in the car. It was back now. Like something, deep inside her, was calling out, crying for her to stop…

…It was gone.

Good.

* * *

><p>America stared up at Berry, a look that was almost desperate on his face. "We-Well…" he stammered, obviously not sure what to do. Berry turned her back on him.<p>

And then, it seemed, America finally realized that Berry was on a ladder. "Oh, yeah? Well, what if I _proved_ to you I'm a hero?" Berry scoffed, reaching to pull another apple off the tree. "Really? And how do you plan t-"

The ladder swayed under Berry, and she fell back, thinking, _That damn America pushed over the lad-_

But there wasn't even enough time to finish the thought before she hit-

water.

No- this was wrong-

Salty, black water, all around her, in every direction, as far as she could see-

Tossing her viciously, swallowing her-

Berry fought to stay on the surface, but years of the inability to swim caught her.

Water went over her head.

_How did this happen?_

Berry couldn't breathe, couldn't think-

And then everything went black.

* * *

><p>~Moments Earlier~<p>

* * *

><p>America turned his back to the ladder. "Oh, yeah? Well, what if I <em>proved<em> to you I'm a hero?" He asked heroically, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest.

The plan:

Tip over the ladder, and save all of the poor apples from hitting the ground and getting hurt!

Nufu~ the perfect plan for the perfect hero.

"Really? And how do you plan t-" Berry's voice suddenly stopped, accompanied by a clattering sound.

America glanced back- the ladder was on its' side, and apples littered the ground- but none of that mattered to America.

He stared at his hands. "No… frickin'… way…" He raised his arms up in the air like a soldier returning from a victory at war. "DUDES, I HAVE TELUH- TELOO- TALLYKANEEKTIC POWERS!"

_Silence…?_

It was only then that America saw Berry, on her side, unmoving except for her side, which proved that she was breathing- but it was light and fluttering, as if each breath hurt.

_Well, crap._

* * *

><p><strong>*This is relating to the fact that I believe that some siblings- (Such as Berry and America, or Germany and Prussia)- can occasionally read each other's thoughts….<strong>

…**Technically, it was just a way for me 'n Heart to make role play more interesting, but whatever. I'll use it.**

**PHEW~ It's finally done and up! I thought the time would never come… it's way longer than I expected.(-This was, like, I dunno. Sometime in Dec of 2011)**

**Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of **_**Epidemic**_**!**

**And…**

**pft. Do license plates have six digits or eight? *Feeling pretty stupid because I don't know this.***

**NOTE: If this is the first time you've read something by me including all of the wonderful OCs at EscapingMidnightPro (We're a group, but that's hard to explain on Fan. I'm pretty sure we don't have a group account on Fan, but individual accounts.), please know that sometimes some of the characters will be a bit out of character for themselves. If they act a way that's out of character, I'll mention it… so please don't automatically get mad and hate them. ^-^;**

**Oh yeah. And Berry is out of character in this chapter. o.o**

**~Berry**


	2. The Eighty Third Annual World Conference

Heart sat on the steps of the conference center, sighing, pulling her coat closer around her as a cold wind swept down the street, pulling the last leaves off the trees as it a napkin over her nose and mouth in some sort of attempt to keep herself from contracting the disease, she tapped her foot impatiently. _Come on,_ she thought, frustrated. _Where in the World are they…? Have they forgotten how dangerous it is to be outside right now? _Her question was answered by the squealing of tires and a car barreling down the road, then screeching haphazardly to a stop as it was sharply yanked up to a curb and the brakes were applied- a little bit _too_ much application, as if someone had stomped on the pedal.

Instantly, the car doors opened, and Italy and Romano climbed out of the car- Italy from the passenger, Romano from the driver. "Hurry up, the meeting's supposed to have already started!" Heart called, jumping to her feet and dashing through the doors, not waiting to see if her brothers were following. She had woken up early, gotten them both up, but apparently Italy had fallen back asleep and not gotten ready… Heart pushed through another set of doors, turning into a hall. Romano had driven them both up, making her swear over the phone she would wait outside for them, which was stupid of her- it was already twenty minutes past the start of the-

_Hold on a moment. _Heart slid to a stop, pausing to catch her breath. She was still three hallways away from the Conference room- so that sort of roar couldn't possibly be-

"_Duuuuuudes, check it oooout, Poland just stuck an entire french-fry up his nose!_" A single voice, all too familiar, became all too obviously clear above the others.

_Uh-huh. That's them. Which not only means that the Conference hasn't started, it means Germany is probably about to lose his mind… _She heard the loud footsteps of running feet behind her, which told her that her brothers had, in fact, caught up. She glanced back, slightly stunned to see Italy several yards behind Romano. _Weird. I thought Italy was much faster than… _Heart stopped in mid-thought, instead focusing on the problem at hand. "Come on, we're really late," she sighed, taking off again, clearing the rest of the halls quickly. She pushed open the door and found exactly what she had dreaded.

* * *

><p>Mew tapped her fingers on the tabletop, sighing, glaring across the table. Heart and Italy were late, America was being America, Berry was nowhere to be found, Dream had gone off to the kitchen in search of France, and Germany was sitting at the head of the table, reading some book instead of taking control of this supposed-to-be conference. Hissing out a few choice swear words under her breath, Mew stood up, making her way to her Bruder. She sat back down beside him, extending her claws and tap-tap-tapping them on the polished tabletop. Germany glanced up at her and, patiently, asked, "Ja, Schwester?" Mew blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Can't you start the meeting? Or shut everyone up? This is <em>ridiculous.<em>" Germany shrugged. "It's not my job to take control of these conferences-" "Don't say that, you have to do _something_, at least-" She paused, looking up as the door swung open and- _danke Gott_- Heart walked in closely followed by Italy and Romano. Shooting a bitter glance at America,- ("Dude, where the heck is my cape?")-Mew crossed the room, waving at Heart and then greeting Italy with a hug. Italy hugged her back, quietly giving her a quick "Ciao". Mew pulled back, giving him a puzzled look. "Is something wro-" A bloodcurling shriek sliced through the air.

* * *

><p>Halfway across the room, America fell backwards off the table he was standing on, landing on his back. A spoon clattered on the floor beside him. For one, two, three seconds, nobody moved. Then-<p>

America sat up, both hands covering his face, shouting, "_Gyaaaaaaaooooow_ _!_ What the heck was _thaaaat?_" Several Nations started to snicker. "That was _me_, you bloody git, showing how much of an idiot you are. Why the Hell would you stand on a table, and then, in all of your so-called superhero gist, get knocked over by a bloody _spoon?_" America opened his mouth to say something, but Germany, rising slowly from his chair, cleared his throat loudly. Everyone fell silent, and there was a slight rumbling clamor as everyone hurried to a seat. Heart glanced around in her chair, trying to pick out white hair and red eyes from the Nations around her without luck. Belle sat down a few chairs away, glancing around in wonder, one of those, 'First-Conference-Experience' looks on her face. France and Dream quickly sat down, seeming to come out of nowhere, but still no Prussia.

"Welcome, Nations, to the eighty-third annual World Conference," Germany said, and with that, the meeting began.

* * *

><p>Economy. Poverty. National disasters. Boring, unheroic things. No wars, currently. Hoooooow <em>booooooring…<em> America fidgeted in his seat, having run out of burgers before the start of the meeting. "…and so, we move on to our next topic… anyone?" France raised his hand. America blinked. _Weird_. Germany sighed, rubbing his forehead. "This had better not be about re-legalizing those- what are they- houses of-" He started, but France cut him off. "_Non, non,_ none of that- although, if you'd consider it-" He stopped, shaking his head. "Never mind. I would like to bring up the topic of _Malasere_, and-" France stopped, as outbursts from all over the room cut him off. Random words broke above the din- "deaths"- "only a week?"- before Germany raised his hand for silence. France continued. "I understand that while it is very new, it has already taken several thousand lives in the past few days. We do not know a lot about it, but I am currently working with Australia. What we have discovered so far," he raised his voice over the murmurings, "is a few symptoms. Humans who have contracted the disease often start with regular, everyday things- headaches, stomachaches, sore throats, and so on, and then show drastic changes in personality, which can be followed by any number of symptoms… hallucinations, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and worse… we don't know everything- in fact, we hardly know anything, but…"

America wasn't listening anymore. For the first time in his life, America was connecting the dots on his own, and the picture wasn't pretty.

* * *

><p><em>That morning…<em>

_Berry stood in front of the door, her entire body shaking, her arms-_ (Had they been that thin before?)_ – thrown out to block the path. "Please, you can't leave me here alone- they'll come back… I know they will…" She glanced around, her eyes searching, as if hearing something and trying to locate the source. America shrugged. "But dude, you're tired, Germany'll get pissed off at me if-" Berry shook her head violently, swaying slightly. "You _have_ to. I can sleep on a couch somewhere or something. _Please._" America grinned. "Alright, alright, c'mon, I wanna stop by McDonald's on the way!"_

* * *

><p>Belle poked America in the shoulder. "America? <em>Bonjour? <em>Hello? Are you there?" America blinked, shaking his head. "Oh- hey, Belle!" He grinned, hugging her, but… "Is something wrong?" She asked. America glanced over Belle's shoulder at the door. "I think… someone I know…" he stopped, frowning. "What's…?" She turned to look. By now, most of the countries were gone, and the Asians had left halfway through the meeting to discuss something in one of the other rooms, so the doors _should_ have been open, but there was a small crowd- Heart, Mew, Dream, France, Italy, Romano, Germany, and Britain- around them. America blinked, then walked over. "Hey, dudes, what's up?" He called when he was a few feet away. Britain sighed, glancing over his shoulder at him. "The bloody doors are locked, and we're stuck in here," he muttered. America rolled his eyes. "So, bust open a window or-" Heart gestured towards the walls. "No windows," she explained. America raised his hand, as if to stop them. "Okay, dudes, back up! The HERO will solve this problem!" Everyone obediently moved away from the doors- (Excepting Britain, who threw in some rude words as he did.)- and America went to stand thirty-ish feet from the door. There was a short pause, and then a sort of battle cry- ("_HAMBURGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!_")- and America took off toward the doors at a full sprint.

* * *

><p>Dream watched quietly as America sprinted towards the doors. Impact in three, two, one, and-<p>

America might as well have run into a concrete wall. His head connected with a sharp _crack_, and he practically bounced off the doors and onto the floor, connecting with the wooden boards with a grunt. He groaned a little bit, rolling onto his side, then gave a small caugh as Belle let out a squeal of concern, dropping to her knees beside him and shaking him gently.("America? _Estes-vous d'accord? Pouvez-vous entendre ma voix?_") Dream sighed as Germany voiced exactly her thoughts: "Well, it would seem even America's moronic raw strength can't bust open the doors… it would appear that we'll need to find some other way out, or wait for someone to let us out."

* * *

><p><strong>Wooooow, that was fun to type. Especially America running into the door.(-Oh, but a few days after I wrote this chapter, I literally sprinted into a door.<strong>

**o-q**

**It hurts real bad. It was not fun.) That was fun. ^-^ I'm sorry it took me a few days to type this out… (- Hah, that's a frickin' troll. I haven't updated this poor story in over a month. BUT I'LL WRITE AND POST ANOTHER CHAPTER TOMORROW PRESIDENT'S DAY FTW.**

**Maybe I'll even write Chapter 6, too.)**

**~Berry**


	3. Of Cell Phones and Air Ducts

Dream stared hard at the doors. If America couldn't bust them down, they could probably withstand some sort of explosion… Even Dream, in all of America's idiocy, had to admit he was probably the strongest person she knew. "So," she thought aloud, probably voicing the thoughts of everyone else in the room, "What can we do now?" She glanced around, searching the faces of her friends, siblings, and- in the case of America- forced acquaintances for an answer. For a few moments, everyone was quiet, then Romano piped up, "What about cell phones? Potato bastard over there can call someone." Mew raised an eyebrow at Romano. "You have a cell phone? I thought only Italy had one." Romano glared back at her. "Well, no. But you're not useless, right? Don't you have a cell?" Only half-listening to their argument, Dream's hand went to her pocket- which was empty. _Wha-? Oh, right… I lent it to that teenager who was in here earlier… What was the name?_ Dream paused, blinking. No names came. _Odd… I could've sworn I knew everyone. She was supposed to give it back to me- _Insert internal groan here_- after the meeting_. She surfaced from her thoughts, hearing her name. Everyone was staring at her. "Um- sorry," she stuttered, feeling her face go red. "What were we talking about…?" She heard Romano mutter something- _Probably swear words in Italian_, she thought- but France nudged her, whispering, "Germany asked if you had your cell with you." Dream whispered a quick thanks, smiling at him, then, turning back to the others, said, "No- I lent it to some young-looking country before the meeting… so I guess she still has it." Instead of the face/palms and groans and, "You can't just give your phone out like that…" she had expected, brief looks of confusion and alarm flashed across faces. Mew raised her eyebrows. "What? What's wrong with you guys? I forgot my phone at home, but Dream lent hers out, what's so wrong with that?" She turned to face Germany, who was rubbing the back of his head. "Bruder? What?" Germany sighed. "Well, it's just that I lent my phone out to some young country I didn't recognize as well…" Dream quickly surveyed the faces of those around her. They were all nodding in agreement, as if they had done just that, and were all confused as to why some kid needed so many phones. "Hold on, you mean some country that none of you knew came along and stole all of your phones? Aren't you all supposed to be super macho- ow!" Mew elbowed Romano in the ribs, thoroughly shutting him up. "Well, actually, I felt like I had seen that face before…"

* * *

><p>Elsewhere on the Planet<p>

* * *

><p>The President stood in front of the huge metal doors, which were wide open, a surgery mask over his face to protect him from the all too contagious germs in the air. He watched, feeling torn, as family after family were led inside the huge underground city. It would be able to fit every family in the United States- and more, if necessary- comfortably, but they would be giving up a lot. There was no telling how long the disease- nicknamed <em>Malasere<em> by the French- would remain in the air on the surface. A solider, there to oversee the moving of the people into the city in a safe and orderly manner, turned to the President. "I believe that is everyone, sir. Should we close the doors?" The President shook his head. "I'm waiting for one more person. He was in a meeting, but he should be here any-" He stopped as a loud, "_, I RECORDED MY VOICE INTO YOUR PHONE AND MADE IT YOUR RINGTONE FOR MEEEEEEEEE, NUFUFUFUUUUU!_" suddenly shrieked into the air.

The solider jumped, and the President fumbled into his pocket for his phone, yanking it out. The words, "1 New Message From Alfred F. Jones" blinked across the screen. "Sorry about that," the President quickly explained, opening the text.

**Hey boss! i decided to go chill at japns sheltr so ill c u! xHEROHEROHERO**

The solider stood patiently, waiting for his orders. The President, stuffing his phone hastily in his pocket, nodded to the solider. "We can go in now and shut the doors."

All around the world, similar texts were being sent from the Nations.

* * *

><p>Heart glanced at France, not quite believing her ears, feeling like she was on some corny crime show. Or in one of those, "Escape the Room" games. France shrugged in response to the quizzical looks. "I just feel like I should know the face, that's all." Even more surprising, though, was when Britain piped up, "I felt the same way. It was like I'd met her before, but it had been a long time… you think she's a pickpocket, and she's been following us Nations around?" Mew sighed, making a little bit of a pfff sound. "Yeah, Iggy, a little Nation has been stalking all of us and stealing our crap. Paranoid much?" Britain glared at her. "It was only an idea, so-" "Wait, hold on," Germany suddenly said, (Much to Britain's contempt.) gesturing at Belle. "Who is this?" Heart walked over, putting her hand on Belle's shoulder. <em>Almost forgot all about her… oops.<em> "This is Belle. Er, Bellasamitania." Germany raised an eyebrow, an obvious, "That tells me nothing" look. "She's a newer country- France's younger sister. Dream, Mew, Berry and I hang out with her all the time." "My country produces more peppermint than any other country on Earth each year," Belle proudly added. "Er- hold on a tick. Where is Berry, anyways…?"

* * *

><p>America sat up, pulled off his glasses, popped a lense back in place and put them back on. "Oh, Berry's asleep on a couch," he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "A couch? What? Why is-" Britain started, looking like he wanted nothing more than to give America a good slap over the head, but America cut him off, jumping to his feet. "She was tired, but she didn't wanna be home alone, and since the HERO is so completely awesome, I let her come! Once we bust this door down, I'll go get her and then we can all go to those disease shelters our bosses have been building! I can't wait, my room is so totally epic, I tricked it out myself! It's- whuh?" He stopped, hearing a loud creaking noise overhead. Then-<p>

_BOOM._

Somebody screamed.

* * *

><p>Moments Earlier<p>

* * *

><p>Something heavy had landed on top of America, and he had no idea what it was, but it had knocked the wind out of him. He could hear Belle shouting breathlessly in rapid french- ("Oh la bonte, ce qui se passé? Est tout le monde bien? Ce qui est arrivé?") and people shouting, and then- "<em>SPAIN, YOU BASTARD, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?<em>"

Romano.

Whatever was on top of him moved, then rolled to the side, off of him. America sat up, shoving what appeared to be a sheet of metal to the side and found himself face to face with none other than Prussia.

Heart was overjoyed to see Prussia. More than overjoyed- ecstatic. Romano, however, was less than joyous to see not only Prussia here, but Spain as well.

You can imagine what the next few minutes were like.

* * *

><p>While Heart and Germany were catching up Prussia and Spain, Dream was thinking. If Spain and Prussia had been crawling around in the air ducts all day, they probably had a pretty good idea of how to move around the place. And air ducts were connected to the outside, right? And they were in every room, so they could get Berry on the way out.<p>

It made sense.

But would it to everyone else?

Coming to a decision, Dream pulled France to the side and explained her plan.

* * *

><p>"It's hot in here," Romano complained. "Somebody shut up the unawesome South Italy," Prussia grumbled from the front. It had been this way for the past forty-five minutes, with Prussia and Spain leading them through the ducts and Romano finding something to make a fuss over every few feet. There was a sharp smack sound, and then, "America hit me!" which was followed by another smack, then, "Dudes, Britain hit <em>me!<em>" and then, finally, silence. Italy was positioned between Germany and Mew, and he actually thought it was cold, but oh well. He flinched as the harsh sounds of someone's boot against the metal of the vent hit his ears. For some reason, everything seemed so loud, and painful… "The Awesome Me sees snack food!" Prussia called, which only deepened Italy's pain, but he didn't let it show. That's what Germany and Mew had taught him, right? They all crawled carefully over the door of the vent until the last in line- America- passed it. There was a clang as America pushed open the door in the floor, then a small scream from below- ("WHY ARE YOU- PUT ME DOWN, AMERICA, WHAT IS GOING OOOON?")- and then some groaning and more clanging as America climbed back up, pulling Berry with him. There was a small chorus of "Hey"'s from a few people, answered weakly by Berry, who- Italy craned his neck over his shoulder- looked worse than he felt. Mew nudged him from behind. "Go on, or we'll lose Germany and never make it out. This small space is making me want to go nuts." Italy nodded, crawling on. _Maybe after this, we can all get pasta._

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><p>Prussia twisted around in the duct, putting his feet first, and kicked out at the grate, which was now the only thing between them and the outside world. Once, twice- the grate gave way. Prussia slid out, dropping the eight feet to the ground, quickly pulling the collar of his shirt up to cover his nose and mouth, and turned to call up to the small hole in the wall, "It's good, but there's a drop, kesese~" One by one, everyone dropped out, hastily finding someone to cover their faces with. America went off, glancing around the building. "Whoah. Check it out, dudes. The city is, like, completely empty."<p>

There wasn't a single sound in the air.

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><p><strong>OH MY GOSH THAT WAS A LONG FRICKIN' CHAPTER ASKLGAAD;GOAUEGAN.<strong>

**Goodness me. O_o But… at least it's finally going! And Google Translate appears to hate French as much as I do. Okay then.**

**Anyhow, I'm excited to write the next chapter, but at the same time, the idea of writing even another sentence makes me want to die. So. No more chapters till tomorrow, or MAYBE later tonight. ALTHOUGH, don't think that I hated writing this chapter, I didn't. It was hilarious and fun. But this thing is almost 2,000 words… DAAAANG…**

**Anyhow. Merry-Five-Days-Early Christmas Eve!(-…No comment.)**

**~Berry**


	4. Not Like Her Name

**OH, OH, IT'S A SWEET SUMMER DAY~ (Lolno. It's not. It's s'posed to snow t'morrow, yaaaaaay, white Christmas Eve! Kind of![-It didn't snow.]) Anyhow, here we go~**

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><p>America led the group. With nowhere else to go, they had tried fruitlessly to find a car with gas, but many had been left running or were trapped in traffic jams, or were too small to accommodate everyone, and so were left to walking to the entrance of America's underground shelter. There would be no way for the rest of them to get to their own shelters in time, so for now, they would have to settle for what was available. They were walking down a road in the middle of a secluded wooded area. When Romano had complained, Prussia had responded with a rude, "We'd all rather you stay outside anyways. It would make everyone's day if you got sick and di-" Germany had cut him off with an elbow to the side, sending him a, 'If-we-don't-find-shelter,-we-WILL-actually-die' look.<p>

Nobody had really spoken since then.

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><p>She stood on the steps of the Conference Center, her backpack beside her feet. She took a deep breath of the air around her. Still highly polluted with the disease- she could <em>taste<em> it. Good. It would only get worse. Of course, she couldn't just _wait_ for the disease to kill off the Nations she had locked in this building. No- it would take too long. The average human could only last two weeks at most with the disease, but a Nation? At that rate, a Nation could suffer for a month in a quick case. At most, maybe five months. No, too long. Locked in this building, she had the last chance for humanity- and a few extras. The powerful Nations whose names were known around the globe.

Not like her name.

She reached down, unzipping her backpack and pulling out a small cloth bag, about the size of her fist. She opened it carefully, reached in slowly, and extracted what appeared to be an amount of dust. She closed the bag, put it back in her backpack, and again faced the building. Opening her fist, she closed her eyes, whispering something, then blew. The dust flew to the building and scattered on the porch.

There was an odd sort of humming noise, and suddenly, sparks exploded outwards, and deep violet flames formed on the wood frame, growing quickly. Not even a Nation could survive that. She had created the disease. And it had given her everything in return.

She was about to cause the deaths of some of the most powerful Nations in the World, but Vanuatu had never felt more alive.

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><p>"<em>What?<em>"

"I- I'm sure it's gotta be a screw up or something… they'll open the doors…" America pounded on the metal slab again, and for a few seconds, he looked as terrified as everyone else- not like the heroic show he had been putting on all day. "Well, we need to stop somewhere and make up a camp or something," Spain sighed, looking at the sky, tinged red and orange by the setting sun. Germany nodded, frowning, obviously thinking hard. "_Ja_, it will be dark soon. Come on," he finally ordered, walking off the road and into the forest. America glanced back, and for a second, he actually considered standing at the door, slamming his fists against it… but it was no use, and he knew it. For some reason, they had locked him out- though why, he didn't know. The President had promised he would wait 'til Thursday to close the doors in case the meeting ran long… but today was still Wednesday. Belle hung back, watching him, waiting for him to come with her. America took a deep breath, glanced back at the doors one final time, then followed as everyone else slowly trudged into the woods.

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><p>A clearing wasn't far off. "I noticed it from the road," Germany explained, pointing off in a direction where the road was visible. He went on, "I'll take a few people with me back to the city to get some tents and supplies." Britain carefully set Berry down, sitting her up against a tree trunk and glanced around. It was a big cleaning, but it was by no means beautiful. Patches of brittle, thin brown grass sprouted here and there, but most of it was dirt. Part of him wanted to stand up and challenge his old foe Germany- ask him who the bloody Hell had made him leader, and why he was making all the decisions- but it wasn't the time. Not now, at least. He sat down beside Berry, staring at her for a few minutes. She was asleep, and had been for a while now. Silently, he sent up a quick prayer- <em>Get better soon.<em>

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><p>Mew and Italy followed Germany quietly. They were all covering their faces with surgery masks they had stolen from a corner store- ("It isn't like anyone will miss them.") and were crossing the parking lot into a Wal-Mart. The automatic doors, despite the lack of anyone inside, slid open, and a blast of warm air conditioning welcomed them. "Bruder, do you think it's safe to take off these masks?" Mew asked, her voice muffled, but Germany shook his head. "We can only assume that every building has contaminated air. The Conference Center has special air treatment systems, but I think it is the only building in this state that does." Mew sighed and nodded. "I'll go get us coats and tents, things like that. Schwester, you and Italy go find food."<p>

They did as they were told.

The way back was slow going, although they were warmer in their 'borrowed' winter coats. Burdened with backpacks full of non-perishables and pasta, among others, they walked quietly. Italy's arms felt like lead, and his head pounded with every slight noise. His throat felt raw, so much that he had almost cried from the pain of drinking out of the water fountain in Wal-Mart. He felt tired, so, so tired. He stumbled, fell to his knees. Germany glanced back at him. "Italy? Are you alright?" Was he worried? Maybe. _That makes me happy- to be worried about…_

And yet he hurt so, so much.

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><p>Mew crouched by Italy. He was on his knees, hunched over, tears running down his cheeks. She could hear Germany trying to get back to where they were, but he was stumbling from the weight of his bags.<p>

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and-

and Italy was lying on his stomach, looking as though he was four years old again. A thoroughly unconscious chibi. Quickly, Mew picked up as many bags from the ground as she could, then carefully picked up Italy, cradling him in her arms. He was dressed as he had probably dressed over two thousand years ago. She held him close, trying to force down the wave of terror that was rising up, threatening to swallow her. _Was ist passiert?_

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><p>Dream leaned against France's side. Usually, she would be uncomfortable and blushing at being this close, but she felt sort of tired and out of it. France didn't seem to mind, obviously. She closed her eyes halfway, wondering sleepily why she didn't feel as scared and alarmed as everyone was. "Is something wrong, <em>Rêve? <em>Are you tired?" France's voice snapped her to reality for a second, but even it was muffled and far away. She felt her head nod. Up and down, up and down. It made her stomach flip, as though she was going to throw up. She tried to tell him she felt okay, just wanted to sleep, but her mouth wasn't working right. She finally managed to mumble out a short, "I'm fine." Was it just her, or was the ground moving under her feet? Dream felt herself tilt- her legs were folding under her- _I just want to sleep…_

Hands wrapped around her, stopping her from hitting the ground, but Dream was still falling, deeper and deeper… the muffled cries of "Dream!" and "_Schwester!_" and "_Mon amour!_" slowly faded to nothing, and finally, Dream felt sleep overcome her.

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><p>Hong Kong carefully laid a white sheet over the bodies. "That makes, like, forty-five, or something…" he said quietly, his voice silenced further by the cloth tied around his mouth and nose. China nodded, his own cloth also tied around his face. "I guess not everyone was able to go to America's shelter… they must have not known how severe it was, or…"<p>

China didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't have to. _Or they were just left to die alone._ South Korea stretched, blowing out a small puff of air, making the cloth over his mouth wave slightly. "Can we stop digging for bodies now? It's way depressing." Sealand and Texas, not far off from him, both nodded eagerly, each with their own face masks. China nodded. "We need to figure out what to do… and more importantly, what is going on." "Yeah, I know! How the heck did we get locked in the Conference Center?" Korea shouted eagerly, seeming all too happy about his brush with death. "And how did the whole place just suddenly burst into, like, purple flames? Is that even possible?" Texas asked, rubbing at the soot on his face. "Isn't it obvious?" Sealand piped up. Texas shook his head. "Is it s'posed to be?" Sealand shook his head with a small sigh. "Come on, think about it! The flames were purple, and they came out of nowhere! How is that possible?" China shrugged. "I don't know, it was sort of like…" He stopped, blinking. Korea finished for him. "Like magic."

"You think Britain trapped us in there and tried to burn us alive or something?" Hong Kong asked, raising an eyebrow. Sealand sighed. "Of course! Who else could have done it? It was probably that British jerk who started the disease in the first place!" Texas raised his eyebrows. "But, hold up, my sister Texas is goin' out with him, I think, and I guess he seems okay. He doesn't like that stupid America, and that's all that matters t'me." Sealand sighed once again, dropping his hand on Texas' shoulder. "Texas, Texas, Texas," he tsk'd. "Silly Republic of Texas. If you ever want to become independent again, you'll need to leave that sort of thinking behind! Take it from a senior in fighting for recognition!"

China wasn't listening to the micronations anymore. "It would make sense for Opium to have done this…" he murmured quietly. Hong Kong sighed. "But, like, how are we going to get back at him? He is probably already in a shelter somewhere… or something." Korea shook his head. "No, no, that fire was set _hours_ after everyone else left. So, his shelter was probably about to close the doors anyhow, and if he created the disease, he has the cure and all that stuff! He doesn't have to be scared of getting sick, he's probably got a load of friends sitting with him somewhere, and they're just having fun with all the free junk!"

Sealand gasped. "So, are we going to go find that meanie and teach him a lesson?" "And can we teach somethin' to America if he's there, too?" Texas cut in before anyone could answer. The Asians glanced at each other, held the stare for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.

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><p><strong>Mmmm, it's actually Christmas Eve now… when I started writing this yesterday, it took me a while to actually start the chapter because for a few minutes, everyone but Vanuatu and the Asians and micronations were giving me writer's block, but I didn't want to start with Van or the Asians… anyhow, Merry Christmas Eve Wish!<strong>

**Now, you've probably got a few questions:**

**Q: WHO IS VANUATU WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.**

**A: Vanuatu is a country off the coast of Australia, and an OC I made up for this story. Aaaand no, she's not necessarily magical, but… it's a difficult explanation, you'll understand when I write that bit. ^-^;;;**

**Q: …Did Berry die, become a boy, and get transported by some holy spirit to the Asians and Sealand?**

**A: …No. Actually, there is a macronation in Texas that is working to make us an independent country again. Google it. o-o**

…**(Please don't support it. No offence to the dudes who run it and any members of the organization who may read this, but Berry kind of likes being a state, even if she has to deal with America.)**

**Q: WHY DID ITALY GO ALL CHIBITALIA?**

**A: Because it's adorable.**

**I think that covers anything.**

**Merry Christmas, guys!**

**~Berry**

**CURRENT TIME AUTHORS NOTES:**

**So, it's the 19****th**** of February, and I have about half of Chapter 5 written. Gosh, I feel bad for anyone who had actually been reading the story back in December of 2011… I hope they manage to find it. O_o**

**Anyhow.**

**Hopefully, I shall see y'all t'morrow. (Or, would it be, hopefully, y'all will read me tomorrow?)**

**~Berry**


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